


arpeggio

by HopelessMasquerade



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Gen, Lev is mentioned, M/M, Songwriter Kenma, i guess ??, kinda ooc at times, violinist akaashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 06:23:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6227359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelessMasquerade/pseuds/HopelessMasquerade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe Keiji can help Kenma overcome his social anxiety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	arpeggio

**Author's Note:**

  * For [1tskillingm3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1tskillingm3/gifts).



> saw [this fanart](http://1tskillingm3.tumblr.com/post/128312910507/from-a-musician-au-where-kenma-is-a-song-writer) centuries ago and had to write something
> 
> please excuse my poor english and all the grammar mistakes

The blond repeatedly tapped his pencil against the notebook, staring at the short sentences he’d written so far. He lied on his bed, with gold, silk-like hair spread all over the pillow, and his entire body resting on the soft matress. With soft breaths and slow blinks, Kenma looked for some inspiration, which he usually found in his neighbours, which he hadn’t really talked with. The room itself was silent, surrounded by pure-white walls decorated with small posters he’d been gathering all along his life, and it was easy for him to hear his neighbour’s voices and songs: concretely, a violinist that lived on the third floor, which would sometimes play harmonious, beautiful songs past-midnight.

···

It was a small neighbourhood, so it hadn’t took Kenma too long to remember those men’s names, and their faces. They were all around their twenties. Kenma had moved to that floor about four months ago, and he’d been expecting nobody to talk to him. He hadn’t expected himself to talk to them, though, since he struggled when talking and getting along with people, and his unnoticeable social anxiety made it worse.

So, when a gray-haired man knocked at his door, followed by a taller, dark-haired man with a soft smile on his face, right after he moved, Kenma didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t any good with introductions, and he felt like those people were expecting many things from him. But Kenma was only a songwriter: all he wanted to do was to have a quiet time, to lay down and write as many songs as he could, and to enjoy life in general. Kenma was well-aware that those people wouldn’t interfere in his life as much as he thought, but couldn’t help but be afraid of what they could think about him.

Kenma sighed as he walked towards the door, with slow, silent steps, and tired eyes, wearing a small, messy ponytail. He’d been writing songs until almost 3 in the morning the day before. Kenma was aware that it would end up affecting his health in some way, and, while he cared, he pretended not to care. After all, he knew how to take care of himself. He wished for it to be a short welcome, and to be able to introduce himelf by just saying his name.

-I… Just woke up - Kenma muttered, opening the door. When he saw those two men standing before him, his mind almost became blank. - Um, hi, I guess.

-Welcome - the gray-haired man greeted him with a child-like grin. - I’m Koushi, and the one you see standing next to me is Daichi. We hope you have a nice stay here.

The small blond couldn’t help but nod at him, with wide-opened eyes. His hands had turned cold all of the sudden, and, even though it was summer, his fingers were slightly trembling. Kenma looked down for a moment, and then back at both men, which hadn’t noticed any of this. Daichi’s expression hadn’t changed at all, and he reached for Kenma’s hand, in order to shake hands with him and welcome him.

Kenma didn’t know how to interpret this, even though he perfectly understood body language, since he loved to observe people. So, because he didn’t want to embarrass himself before them, he grabbed Daichi’s hand, and they shook hands. Kenma didn’t bother to make any eye contact with him, since he just couldn’t. Eye contact was something Kenma just couldn’t do at all.

-I’m Kozume Kenma - he replied with a soft tone, almost as if he was whispering. - I… Hope we can get along as well.

Grinning at him, Daichi chuckled as they unlocked hands. For some reason, Kenma felt at ease when talking to them. He was unable to explain why, but he felt like as if Koushi and Daichi would be there for him when he needed any kind of help. Kenma was also kind of curious about them too, as he’d initially thought about them as some kind of couple. He wouldn’t ask, though, since he found it kind of rude.

-Nice to meet you, Kenma-kun - Daichi’s grin turned back into a tiny smile, and Kenma no longer felt as anxious as he did before. - If you want, you should introduce yourself to the other neighbours. They’re - he stuttered for a moment - _nice_ people as well.

···

Kenma didn’t know what Daichi meant when he said that the other neighbours were “nice people” too. He also didn’t know why he’d stuttered, but it, somehow, gave him a bad feeling. Of course, Kenma would eventually get used to Daichi and Koushi, since they seemed to be trustworthy people, but he didn’t know what to expect about the rest. The few people Kenma had managed to trust during his 21 years were some relatives and his childhood friend, Kuroo Tetsurou. He didn’t exactly know where Kuroo ended up after he graduated from high school, but Kuroo had always been a good student, so Kenma had expected him to end up at a good University.

And Kuroo did end up studying at a good University: concretely, the almighty University of Tokyo. Something Kenma didn’t know was that Kuroo was closer to him than he thought, and that he’d met a fairly peculiar boy at the University. Kenma didn’t know about the existence of said boy (Kuroo hadn’t told him yet), but it all would change one of the very few days Kenma found himself wandering around the street after shopping.

-He~y! Are you perhaps Kenma? - a cheerful voice called behind him.

All Kenma could do was to nod at him. The man’s spiky, owl-like hair, as well as his bright, wide-open amber eyes seemed somewhat familiar to Kenma, but he’d never met somebody like him before. He somehow resembled Kuroo, but that’s the only thing Kenma could come up at the moment.

-H-How do you know my name? - The blond stuttered, hoping their conversation would end up soon.

But the owl had many things to tell him.

-Well, Kuroo told me lots of things about you - he smirked. - Do you really write songs? That sounds great, man!

There was obviously something Kuroo hadn’t told Kenma. But Kenma, being the small genius he was, would eventually find out. Not only by himself, but also thanks to the strange man he’d just met.

Before he could say anything, Kenma thought to himself. The man before his eyes looked like some kind of University student, yet he didn’t exactly act like one. He also resembled Kuroo; slightly in looks and somewhat in personality, except that he seemed to be a bit more annoying than Kuroo. Those were the few things Kenma knew about him right now, but, given the fact that he knew Kuroo and that said man had told him about Kenma, the blond could only assume that those two were friends.

-So-

- _Bokuto_. Bokuto Koutarou, that’s me right here! - he pointed at himself, as if he was someone important. - And don’t worry, you don’t need to introduce yourself!

Kenma briefly stared at the floor for a moment before speaking.

-Where does Kuroo live now? - Unable to hold any eye contact, he looked away from Koutarou.

-Whoa, didn’t he told you!? - Koutarou nearly yelled, raising his eyebrows. His reaction made Kenma wish they weren’t in the middle of the street, as some people were staring at them. - We moved to the Kotobuki Building. I’ve actually met you a few times, but you never talk! You really are shy, aren’t you, kid?

Kenma didn’t know how to reply to him. True was that he’d never noticed Kuroo before at all, since Kenma barely went outside his own floor. Sometimes he’d thought that he’d heard Kuroo’s voice at some point, but maybe it had been some dumb high school flashback from when the black-haired boy retired from the team, after the Spring Tournament. Kenma didn’t shed any tears back then, but it was more than obvious that he’d began to miss Kuroo days after he’d retired.

With that timid, withdrawn expression, Kenma raised his head at Koutarou.

-Does Kuroo know that I live there too?

-Well - Koutarou stuttered, scratching the back of his head as he pouted, showing a confused face -, he doesn’t. And I didn’t know until you told me, so…

The blond had been expecting that kind of response even before asking. He didn’t know what he’d expected to happen, since he’d barely showed himself or talked with his neighbours (with the exception of Daichi and Koushi). On the other side, he couldn’t help but wonder if Kuroo had missed him throughout all those years. Kenma wasn’t one to message people _unless_ he got messaged first, and Kuroo had been really busy with University.

Their last conversation had took place after Kenma graduated. Nekoma’s former upperclassmen, including Kuroo, showed up at Kenma’s graduation for some reason. Maybe to thank him, but Lev Haiba had been already there to thank Kenma -and he’d done, more than enough-, so the blonde just assumed that they wanted to congratulate him or throw some kind of party. But instead, they had attended Kenma’s graduation in order to wish good luck to its new captain, who was none other than Lev. It seemed like a bad choice at first, but the Russian boy had matured -although barely- along those years.

Koutarou’s words brought the tiniest of smiles to Kenma’s face, and it had been one of the best sights Koutarou had seen so far.

-You should ask Kuroo to visit me at some point - his golden, cat-like eyes almost dug into Koutarou’s face, and the older man felt like he had to listen to him. - If you two are busy with University, then… It’s perfectly understandable.

···

On the third floor, there lived a pair of professional volleyball players. However, Kenma barely knew about them since they were rarely at home. Kenma had actually seen them before, though; they played in Japan’s national team, and were well-known as a fairly powerful duo that had helped the team win many matches. He’d seen one of those matches before on TV, while taking a break from song-writing, and he’d recognized them.

It would be impossible to not recognize them.

Kenma’s team had never played against them before, but they were fairly well-known amongst every Tokyo team. Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime, sometimes known as “Seijou’s Double Ace”, had joined Japan’s national volleyball team little after graduating. From that moment on, watching any of the national team’s matches became almost mandatory.

Sometimes those two men would show up. Kenma had met them at some point -the cheerful, happy-go-lucky Tooru who was actually more powerful than he seemed to be, and the more serious, short-tempered Hajime that just wanted to go and practice until late night-, and had felt like they weren’t connected just in the volleyball sense. At least, that’s what Kenma had thought; he wouldn’t go around, asking random strangers about their lives. _Specially_ if they were famous.

···

But the one that had caught Kenma’s attention the most was someone that lived on the third floor too. He played violin, specially at night, when he thought that all of his neighbours had gone to bed, and the floor wasn’t as lively as always. Kenma liked to stay up until late just to hear him play. Most of the time he didn’t regret it, as it hadn’t took him too long to fall in love with those melodies, and sometimes would fall asleep along them.

The man’s name was Akaashi Keiji. While he worked as a photographer, most of the time he played his violin on his free time, perhaps to catch some inspiration. They had actually talked once before; Kenma had been brave enough to thank him for his songs, and Keiji had only replied with a gentle smile and half-closed eyes with dark bags under them, which only made him look more mysterious. Immediately, Kenma found him interesting. But he was both bad at talking and at carrying a conversation, so he didn’t last for too long.

Somehow, Keiji found him kind of interesting too.

-If you want - he spoke, with his forest-green eyes fixed on Kenma’s golden ones, and a soft, sleepy voice -, you could request some songs.

Not that Kenma had a vast knowledge of songs, since he always listened to the same albums, but it was worth the try.

···

It was another of those nights in which Keiji would play his violin until nearly 3 in the morning, while ignoring all the complaints coming from the other neighbours. Keiji was incredibly talented at it, so he didn’t have to tolerate that many complaints, but there was always someone -Koutarou- that ended up complaining about it. The black-haired man, of course, ignored him, and kept playing as many songs as he knew until he fell asleep, still holding the violin’s bow.

And it was also one of those nights in which Kenma, driven by Keiji’s melodies, would write endlessly until the latter got tired and fell asleep. No matter how bad Kenma’s day had been; hearing Keiji’s violin always managed to cheer him up, even if he didn’t believe so. He sat on the border of his bed, holding his red notebook and a pen, writing not only songs but also poetry that came out of nowhere. Because almost everybody was asleep at the moment -even Kuroo, who had wanted to spend the whole night playing videogames-, it was more than easy to listen to Keiji’s songs. It almost felt like Keiji was playing next to him.

Nearly an hour later, Kenma checked his phone. It was 2AM. He couldn’t remember when Keiji began playing, nor when he began writing, but he was obviously tired. Closing the notebook, he slowly fell on his back and laid on the bed, with his hair spread all over the sheets and his notebook resting near his heart, and the pen rolled over the bed, eventually falling on the floor. The blond took short breaths, and could recognize one of the songs Keiji was playing: he’d requested it that very same day and hadn’t been expecting Keiji to play it at all, but he did. It had made them both happy: Kenma, because he got to listen one of his favorite songs performed by his -new- favorite violinist, and Keiji, because he’d immediately found that song kind of endearing. Keiji would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy playing it; it hadn’t been that hard to learn, and would eventually become one of his favorite songs.

As Kenma slowly fell asleep, with long, deep breaths, and without feeling tired -like most of the time-, he wondered if Keiji had been grateful to meet him too.


End file.
